Kaberle: Up To New Tricks on Halloween?
Montreal always brings out the best in Tomas Kaberle .. Halloween might have displayed a different kind of trick .. one he’s done before, and before that, and maybe even before that too.
For the third time in his career, the Toronto rearguard recorded a four point night against Montreal. He’s also banked a three-pointer.
One could say, he owns the Habs.
One could also say he is the shining beacon that helped this turnaround just as much as the Monster, and the rest of the them.
The best part of Kaberle’s game thus far is the way that he’s seems to be shooting more. There was a highlight showing how he shot the puck wide intentionally to miss the forward up high in the zone. The puck bounced off the boards and into the scrum of traffic in front and caused some other havoc.
Vision, intelligence and execution are exemplary in the Czech native, but he’s also made other players better around him.
He was the one that generated the Almo pass .. Mogilny used to park in the spot at the bottom right of the crease with Kaberle at the left point. Once a seam opened, he would dish a quick pass to AlMo for the goal. Video scouting proved to close up this gap for fear of the ‘AlMo pass’, and it opened up space for Bryan McCabe to capitalize with big boomers from the point.
Darcy Tucker would benefit from the spot by the right of the crease and Kaberle made him shine with the AlMo pass … notice the drop since a 24-goal season in 2006-07.
Well, Kabs might be at it again, with another player and a different type of play … I’ll need more video evidence, but the skeletal framework is there.
This time it involves Mikhail Grabovski.
For the second game in a row, Kaberle has let a shot go from the point while Grabovski is entering the slot area – not in, just entering with his stick in good preperation. In Buffalo, the Belarussian tipped in the game-tying goal. On Saturday night, Kaberle found legs with Grabovski in the area, but the puck went in. Both shots were just hard enough to be tipped.
This might be the making of a set play, and I’ll be watching to keep my eye on it.
Pingback: Hockey » Blog Archive » Kaberle: Up To New Tricks on Halloween? : Maple Leafs Hot Stove